Dragonflies are incredible little machines.
They can fly in any direction you can imagine and can change
directions almost instantly. I have oodles of them around and get to
watch them often. I've seen them hover, fly backwards, change heading
in an instant, they can even take off from the ground in reverse. Even
with damaged wings late in the season they still can perform
incredible aerobatics.

I love dragonflies! I live in central Florida and we have a variety
that has reddish wings. A few times a year I've noticed large number
of them flying around everywhere performing their acrobatics with
their wings sparkling in the full sun. It's really impressive. I
don't see nearly as many damselflies but that's partially their fault
since they aren't nearly as bold.